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c/behind-the-smile•taylor.reesetaylor.reese•13d ago

My smile at the station house is a lot thinner than it looks

People think because we laugh and joke after a bad call, we're fine, but that's just how we get through the day. I had a structure fire on Elm Street last month that went south fast, and I was smiling for the crew while my head was still seeing the kitchen ceiling come down. How do you turn off the work part of your brain when you get home?
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cole_baker
cole_baker12d ago
My uncle was a firefighter for twenty years. He said the drive home was his decompression zone, no radio, just quiet. I try to do the same now, just ten minutes of silence in the car before I walk inside. It doesn't always work, but it helps me leave the gear at the door, both the physical and the mental kind.
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beth_singh
beth_singh12d ago
Man, that quiet drive home idea is a good one for trying to switch gears.
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davis.noah
davis.noah12d ago
Yeah, that's a solid tip. I need to try that more often.
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